Would not want Meade to pull me over
Editor, The Times:
Does anyone else feel nervous by Troy Meade’s statement, “I’m going back to work”? [“Everett cop acquitted,” page one, April 27.]
I imagined being pulled over by this officer for speeding or some other infraction. Upon seeing the name “Meade” next to his badge, I would immediately be stricken with debilitating fear. It is not that I do not believe or trust the jury that decided he is not guilty of murder or manslaughter; I fully realize that not being there that night, I cannot possibly know what happened.
For all it’s worth, cops sometimes have a thankless job, showing up at God-knows-what situation with God-knows-what kind of people and being expected to resolve any situation. But there was another officer there that night. He questioned the use of such force and wondered what had happened, “that he missed” to bring the situation to require such an “extreme level of force.” Meade’s tactics were rightfully questioned during the trial —about why he could not take two simple steps back to safety from the car that might or might not have hit him.
Meade does not have the judgment required to be an effective police officer, to remain in service on the streets. He may have resolved the situation that night, but it was only clearly with use of such force —the most force possible —while other options were still available. If he was in such fear for his life that he fired no fewer than seven bullets at the subject’s head, then if he is not guilty of manslaughter or murder; he is guilty of very poor judgment and emotional instability in a crisis situation.
If he is to remain an officer, Meade should be placed behind a desk in perpetuity.
— Paul Synowiec, Seattle
‘Bad cops deserve the same justice as bad civilians’
I am absolutely sickened by Troy Meade’s acquittal; those jury members have a lifetime of burden on their shoulders.
Drinking and driving is a serious issue and surely Niles Merservey did not respond or act properly. He was drunk. That being said, is that cause to pump him full of bullets?
Merservey’s car was boxed between a fence, a retaining wall and a police car when Meade used his Taser. Acquitting this man was a horrible verdict. Could you imagine getting pulled over by this man?
I would not stop for him. He is a hothead with inadequate resolve for such a position. In an area that has seen police officers getting ambushed and killed by lunatics, verdicts such as these unfortunately fuel the fire. Bad cops deserve the same justice as bad civilians. Some people I guess are above the law, which is crying shame. If I were Officer Steven Klocker, the honest cop, I would find an honest police force somewhere outside of lovely Everett.
— David Gates, Issaquah